The Robotics Challenge 2026 brings together companies, start-ups and research institutions to develop and demonstrate innovative robotics and automation solutions for wiring harness manufacturing under realistic conditions.

The resulting demonstrators address various challenges of automated assembly – from AI-supported robotics and digital engineering process chains to flexible production systems and innovative handling concepts. Together, they show how modern robotics, software, and engineering can pave the way for cost-effective automation of wiring harness manufacturing.

The Robotics Challenge 2026 recognizes particularly innovative contributions with four awards. Demonstrators that impressed with technological innovation, economic potential, robust process design, or exceptional creativity were honored.

• Technological Innovation: Mowito Robotics Inc.
  Physical AI for adaptive robotics and learning-based assembly processes.

• Economic efficiency: Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb), Technical University of Munich
  Robust process design as the basis for economical automation.

• Robustness: Chair of Manufacturing Automation and Production Systems (FAPS), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
  End-to-end process chain for hybrid wiring harness modules.

• Mindhack Award: wemonte AG
  Innovative drone-based manipulation approach for wiring harness assembly.

The Robotics Challenge 2026 was supported by leading companies in the fields of wiring harness engineering and digitalization. They provided the teams with digital wiring harness models, engineering data, and software solutions, thus creating a common database for simulation, planning, and development of the demonstrators.

• VOITAS Engineering
• EDAG Engineering
• ASAP Engineering
• smartCable
• NEXUS

The contributions from the digitalization partners will be published shortly.

The Robotics Challenge 2026 impressively demonstrates that automating wiring harness manufacturing is not a single technological problem. Only the interplay of robotics, artificial intelligence, digital engineering data, simulation, and intelligent production systems enables economically viable and scalable solutions.

The seven demonstrators and the contributions of the digitalization partners provide different solutions and offer a comprehensive insight into the current state of research and industrial development.